Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp was pleased with his side's display in Germany, and said he was the one who insisted Trent Alexander-Arnold to take the free-kick from which the youngster scored, according to the Guardian.
"If somebody told me we would win tonight, we would take each result - even an 8-7 - and so I am happy about the result," he added.
"Yes, they had their moments, especially when they changed a little bit their style of play. But we were very offensive on both wings and that left Trent and Alberto (Moreno) alone."
Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet saved an early penalty from former Leicester striker Andrej Kramaric to give Liverpool some early confidence.
The Liverpool manager reserved special praise for Trent Alexander-Arnold as an "incredible young player" after he scored against the Bundesliga outfit in the first leg of their Uefa Champions League play-off round clash.
The 18-year-old stepped up ahead of more senior colleagues to whip in a set-piece and open the scoring with his first goal for the club on his European debut on Tuesday night.
Hoffenheim's late strike from Mark Uth came from Alexander-Arnold's side of defence after James Milner's cross had deflected in off Havard Nordtveit to make it 2-0, but Klopp accepts the youngster is still learning, according to Sky Sports.
"He is an incredible young player. It was actually because I told him he had to do it - he was the only one who can. He can shoot free-kicks better than I ever could."
The reds conceded a late goal towards the end of the match, but it ended 2-1 in their favour.
Despite conceding a late goal, Klopp insists he was happy with the scoreline to take back to Anfield for next week's second leg.
Hoffenheim coach Julian Naglesmann felt his side were unfortunate to lose, and reacted angrily to Jürgen Klopp's suggestion that Liverpool nullified the threat of the Bundesliga outfit for long periods of the Champions League play-off first leg, as reported by the Liverpool Echo.
Hoffenheim enjoyed 63% possession, and Naglesmann believes Klopp was just putting a positive spin on the fact that Liverpool were on the back foot for much of the contest at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena.
"We had the ball in many important spaces. He has to say that and defend his team", Naglesmann said.
"He won't say 'Hoffenheim played so well and we were bad'."
